What is it? Have you never been in a playground? It’s that thing where you hold a rope and repeatedly jump over it; once practised exclusively by heavyweight boxers and children, now having a comeback in gyms.

How much does it cost? As little as £1.50.

What does it promise? A cheap and portable high-intensity workout that tones muscle, builds endurance, improves agility and can burn more calories than running.

What’s it actually like? It seemed so easy. My son had just been born and I thought that a daily 20-minute skipping session in my garden would be a decent gym alternative during his first few weeks. It turns out that skipping is a lot harder than it looks. It takes a level of coordination I simply did not have. My limbs flailed around, my jumps were out of time and, unexpectedly, the soles of my feet started hurting. If I managed four skips in a row, I counted it as a success. Twenty minutes at this pace would be pathetic.

My advice for newcomers is to start slowly, and spend some time on YouTube. It is full of skipping for beginners tutorials where muscled men and women show you how to improve your technique and build up speed. There are also suggested workouts where you intersperse three minutes of skipping with a minute of floor exercises. I am yet to make it through a 20-minute session without falling to the floor in exhaustion. But if I put in the time, I may be just as good as a child.

Best and worst bit If there’s enough space, you can take your rope and skip anywhere you like. That’s if you know how to skip, obviously.